State govt approves ₹1,758-cr power tariff concession for irrigation schemes

The decision is expected to benefit over a million farmers in the state who receive water for their land from 1,789 irrigation schemes, officials said.

Mumbai: Ahead of the zilla parishad elections across Maharashtra, the Mahayuti government on Tuesday approved grants worth over ₹1,758 crore over two financial years for electricity tariff concessions in irrigation schemes to please farmers, who will be a major vote bank in these polls.

The Gosekhurd Irrigation Project in Maharashtra - Gosekhurd Dam coming up on the Wainganga river - Gosikhurd Irrigation Project

The decision is expected to benefit over a million farmers in the state who receive water for their land from 1,789 irrigation schemes, officials said.

The elections to 32 zilla parishads and 336 panchayat samitis in Maharashtra are expected to be held in the next three to four months. These polls would be crucial in deciding which party rules rural Maharashtra.

With an eye on these polls, the state cabinet on Tuesday approved grants totalling ₹1,758 crore over the current and next financial year for electricity tariff concessions in lift irrigation schemes. These grants will help provide electricity at a charge of ₹1.16 per unit to high-tension irrigation schemes and ₹1 per unit for low-tension schemes, officials said. The charge before the concession was around ₹5.43 per unit. The concessional rates will continue till March 31, 2027.

“For the current financial year of 2025-26, ₹ 886.15 crore was approved by the cabinet. For the 2026-27 financial year, ₹872.23 crore was approved. This amount will be given to Mahavitaran, the state-owned electricity distribution company, as compensation for providing electricity to irrigation schemes at concessional rates,” the official added.

These concessions will be offered at a time when Maharashtra is facing significant farmer distress, particularly in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions, due to reasons such as drought, crop losses, and not getting a fair price for produce. The Mahayuti government is expected to use the concessions to send a message of how it is helping the farming community at large.

The decision also comes against the backdrop of the recent reservation stir launched by Marathas, a politically dominant agrarian community.

Namo Shetkari funds released

The state government on Tuesday also released ₹1,892 crore as the quarterly instalment for the Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana, a scheme under which farmers receive ₹12,000 annually. In the presence of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputies, Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, the funds were credited to the bank accounts of 9.165 million farmers across the state. The latest instalment released by the state government was for the April-July 2025 quarter.